And now, he had dedicated his profession to sharing that happiness with others.

"I've had a pretty charmed life so far because of balloons," he says.

Rehab with balloons

So just how did 43-year-old Cremeens get into creating huge balloon costumes? Well, it started with magic.

Coming from the very small town of Alto Pass, Ill., population 300, Cremeens started as a part-time magician 14 years ago. He didn't make much money, just enough to support the hobby of buying magic props.

Then, a month before his 30th birthday, he was in a store looking for tricks when he found a small balloon kit. Intrigued, he bought it.

He started learning the twists and turns of balloons and practicing his own designs.

Then, in 2005, he was riding his motorcycle — without a helmet — down a little back country road when he crashed.

"I bounced my head and neck off the road at 40 miles an hour," he says, admitting that he should have had head protection.

It resulted in a severe concussion and memory loss. He can't recall the few hours before the accident or the four days after, he only knows what the police report and doctors told him.

He was out of work for a long time from the brain trauma, but he rehabbed himself with balloons, committing to learning a new design every week.

Then, after he recovered, he moved to Nashville to pursue balloon art full time.

And he went to a Predators game.

"Man, the energy that Preds fans put into things is unreal," he says. "The raw excitement of being in Bridgestone is the best thing ever. So I became a Preds fan."

Making Pekka Rinne

With a couple of wrist twists, balloon bends and other fancy hands movements, Cremeens can create all types of characters.

He makes everything from Nemo and Dory to a lightsaber wielding Luke Skywalker, from all the Disney Princesses to huge pirate ships. And with it, he travels across the world. He's decorated election night parties in Washington D.C., created wedding decor in Chicago, he's going to Europe for two weeks to learn more, and to another wedding in Australia in 2018.

Sam Cremeens created this giant pirate ship from balloons.(Photo: Submitted)

Many of his design ideas come first in his dreams. He often wakes up in the middle of the night and starts a sketch or runs immediately to his home studio to begin building, no matter what time it is.